Sir Michael said Google’s expertise had rapidly advanced the museum’s use of technology: “It has enabled us to try out new technologies at a much much faster rate than we could do using traditional approaches.

“We’ll look at how people use the content and that will inform how we spend our money wisely in digitising content for the future.”

The museum’s work with Google forms part of a wider effort to make archives accessible to researchers around the world.

Staff have recently catalogued all UK butterflies and moths, work which Sir Michael says will answer researchers’ long-held questions:

“We can begin to look at questions like: Are butterflies emerging earlier than they used to and are they emerging in different places? Is the climate more suitable for certain sorts of butterflies? Can we see evidence of climate change?”

NHM is just one of 60 natural history museums around the world to partner with Google’s Cultural Institute.

More than 150 digital exhibits and 30 virtual street view tours have been created for the project.

Google is also launching online expeditions for pupils to experience institutions such as the Natural History Museum remotely using virtual reality.

In a statement, the institute’s director Amit Sood said: “We’re delighted to work with the Natural History Museum and partners around the world on innovative projects to bring their incredible collections online.

“Technology can be used not only to make museums’ treasures accessible to people around the world, but also to create new experiences for museum-goers.”